I need to solve an arguement.
I have a pair of thinsulate gloves while my rommate has a pair of
Goretex gloves. Through the course of the winter he repeatedly knocked
me for having "cheap" gloves, until I noticed the little "thinsulate"
tag on the side of one of his gloves. Im wondering what’s the difference
between the two materials. I know that the Goretex gloves cost about
$40 more than my "cheap" thinsulate. Is there some sort of hoax?
Thanks to anyone who could answer.
Rob Liander
lia…@rpi.edu
In <2mqug0$…@usenet.rpi.edu> lia…@jec320.its.rpi.edu (Robert Christopher Liander) writes:
>I need to solve an arguement.
>I have a pair of thinsulate gloves while my rommate has a pair of
>Goretex gloves. Through the course of the winter he repeatedly knocked
>me for having "cheap" gloves, until I noticed the little "thinsulate"
>tag on the side of one of his gloves. Im wondering what’s the difference
>between the two materials. I know that the Goretex gloves cost about
>$40 more than my "cheap" thinsulate. Is there some sort of hoax?
Going on the promotional literature about them, at least,
the two materials have different purposes.
Gore-tex is I believe a perforated membrane of some fluoropolymer.
Anyways, its purpose is to let air and moisture diffuse out
(and in) of the glove without letting liquid moisture get in –
i.e. breathable but waterproof.
Gore-tex is also quite pricey, as these things go.
Thinsulate is your basic insulator, as far as I know.
Keith
—
Keith Rickert |
ke…@imppig.caltech.edu | "death – the undiscovered country from
rick…@cco.caltech.edu | whose bourne no traveler returns"
| -Hamlet, Act III
In article <2mqug0$…@usenet.rpi.edu> lia…@rpi.edu writes:
>tag on the side of one of his gloves. Im wondering what’s the difference
>between the two materials. I know that the Goretex gloves cost about
>$40 more than my "cheap" thinsulate. Is there some sort of hoax?
>Rob Liander
>lia…@rpi.edu
I believe you will find that the outside of his gloves are waterproof, if
they are expensive as you say, and that your gloves have a waterproof liner
on their inside. Needless to say, expensive Gore-Tex is not really
necessary unless you are skiing or constantly getting your gloves wet. As
far as keeping your hands warm, I doubt there is much difference…
Alan
In article <2mqug0$…@usenet.rpi.edu>, lia…@jec320.its.rpi.edu (Robert Christopher Liander) writes:
>I have a pair of thinsulate gloves while my rommate has a pair of
>Goretex gloves. Through the course of the winter he repeatedly knocked
>me for having "cheap" gloves, until I noticed the little "thinsulate"
>tag on the side of one of his gloves. Im wondering what’s the difference
>between the two materials. I know that the Goretex gloves cost about
>$40 more than my "cheap" thinsulate. Is there some sort of hoax?
A few years ago I had to test some fabrics, one of which was Goretex.
From memory the main claim to fame was the layer of porous PTFE under
the aramid. This was the "Goretex" and it was very similar to the
Millipore 0.5um FH ( unsupported PTFE ) membrane filters. The fabric
I tested was three layers. From memory the outer was aramid ( Kevlar )
the central PTFE, and an inner softer layer which was similar to cotton.
The advantage of the material was the ability of the goretex to breathe,
thus allowing water vapour to escape from your hands, but the hydrophobic
nature of the PTFE prevents liquid water from passing through. If your
argument is real serious, email me and I’ll dig out the report and notes.
There was a significant price premium on Goretex, because of the PTFE.
One of the mean tricks played with Millipore FH filters takes advantage
of the hydrophobicity of PTFE. FH filters are usually used for organic
solvents that would attack normal cellulose or common plastic types, but
they can be used for water, providing the surface remains wet. Old hands
set up a vacumn FH filter for water, add a few drops of miscible solvent
( usually ethanol ) and while the filter is wet with ethanol add the
water, the water will pass through the filter OK. They demonstrate the
filter, inadvertently forgetting to mention the initial alcohol – while
explaining the filter, all the water has passed through and the vacumn has
air-dried the filter again. The newbie is then asked to filter some more
water, and of course none passes through. They find the vacumn is OK, so
they assume a new filter is needed and request one. The old hand repeats
the trick using the old filter, and mutters about waste of good filters.
If you used iso propyl alcohol to moisten his gloves, I suspect their
thermal performance would deteriorate somewhat…
Bruce Hamilton